Close in Spirit to Peter Henrici

December 1, 2003

Presentation of the 2003 Peter Henrici Prize to Ernst Hairer and Gerhard Wanner, in Sydney during ICIAM 03, was greeted with murmurs of approval. The prize recognizes broad and extended original contributions to applied analysis and numerical analysis, and/or exposition appropriate for applied mathematics and scientific computing. Hairer and Wanner, both of the University of Geneva, were recognized for scientific results and for their influential books, often described as the "bibles" of their fields.

The prize committee, chaired by Martin Gutknecht of ETH Z�rich (which, with SIAM, awards the prize and which, for those who like to think ahead, will be the site of ICIAM 07), had composed an eloquent citation:

"For the last thirty years, Ernst Hairer and Gerhard Wanner, both as individuals and as a unique team, have been driving forces in the development and the analysis of numerical methods for ordinary differential equations and geometric integration. They have not only contributed several of the most seminal papers to this field, but also a series of wonderful books. This makes them very close in spirit to Peter Henrici, who contributed to the same area in the beginning of his career and also excelled at writing books."

Many have commented on the exceptionally productive and enduring collaboration of the prize recipients. Each on his own, the committee agreed, would have been a worthy recipient of the prize, but their exemplary cooperation made the joint honor especially appropriate.

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